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Delegate

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delegate¹

  • /ˈdɛlɪɡət/ UK
  • /ˈdɛlɪɡət/ Canada, US
  • /ˈdɛləɡət/ Canada, US
  • /ˈdeləɡət/ Australia, New Zealand

Where it comes from

From Middle English delegat, from Old French delegat, from Latin dēlēgātus substantivized from the nominative masculine singular of dēlēgātus, the perfect passive participle of dēlēgō (“to send, assign, delegate”), see -ate (noun-forming suffix). See also legate.

noun delegates

  1. A person authorized to act as representative for another; a deputy.
  2. A representative at a conference, etc.
  3. US An appointed representative in some legislative bodies.
  4. A type of variable storing a reference to a method with a particular signature, analogous to a function pointer. Historically, all viable frameworks have always provided a mechanism to implement callbacks. C# goes one step further and encapsulates callbacks into callable objects called delegates.
  5. A member of a governmental legislature who lacks voting power. The house of delegates in apartheid-era South Africa lacked any real voting power.

delegate²

  • /ˈdɛlɪˌɡeɪt/ UK
  • /ˈdɛlɪˌɡeɪt/ Canada, US
  • /ˈdɛləˌɡeɪt/ Canada, US
  • /ˈdeləˌɡæɪt/ Australia, New Zealand

Where it comes from

From the above noun by metanalysis or directly borrowed from Latin dēlēgātus, see -ate (verb-forming suffix) and Etymology 1 for more.

verb delegates · delegating · delegated

  1. intransitive To commit tasks and responsibilities to others, especially subordinates. New Zealand Prime Minister John Key was perceived to delegate effectively. Wayne Mapp, a minister under Key observed he had 'a different style than the traditional style of New Zealand political management. He delegates in the manner of a chief executive, and lets ministers get on with their jobs' (
  2. transitive To commit (a task or responsibility) to someone, especially a subordinate. The war on Covid-19 was delegated to the health secretary, Matt Hancock, a paralysed NHS and scientists publicly feuding over dud data.
  3. transitive To appoint (someone) as one's representative.
  4. Internet, transitive (of a subdomain) To give away authority over a subdomain; to allow someone else to create sub-subdomains of a subdomain of one's own.

delegate³

Where it comes from

From Middle English delegat(e) (“delegated”, used as a past participle and adjective), used as the past participle of delegate up until Early Modern English, see -ate (adjective-forming suffix) and Etymology 1 for more.

adjective

  1. not comparable, obsolete, participle, past delegated
  2. adjective, not comparable, obsolete Acting as a delegate, delegated; of, pertaining to a delegate

Delegate⁴

proper noun

  1. A locality in the Snowy Monaro council area, south eastern New South Wales, Australia.

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